<p>I have been accepted to both schools. The University of Arizona has offered me a full tuition scholarship since I am a Hispanic National Merit scholar. UT is a more prestigious school. I am a Texas resident and live about an hour from Austin. I have lived in Texas my whole life and have always loved Austin and until Arizona offered me a scholarship, UT Austin was the only school I ever really saw myself at... The scholarship is enticing, but I have always wanted to go to UT... What should I do?</p>
<p>Can you and your family afford both schools? Arizona is going to cost you 15K or so. Texas 26K. If money is no object, go to Texas. If going to Texas means taking out loans and Arizona doesn’t, go to Arizona. Coming out of college with no debt is a great advantage. You’re now free to buy a car with your earnings, rent an apartment, save for a house, live a little.</p>
<p>Also, can you get in to your desired major/college at both schools? Do you have one or a desired career path yet?</p>
<p>BTW, you should be able to get the same deal at ASU, and I hear that their honors college is better than UA’s.</p>
<p>Honestly, I visited UT Austin wasn’t terribly impressed with the campus itself. </p>
<p>If it were my decision it would be no contest… University of Arizona.</p>
<p>Who cares about the campus. 20 years after you graduate or even while you are a student there, what your campus looks like isn’t going to matter even a tiny bit.</p>
<p>That’s your opinion. </p>
<p>The point I was trying to make was that the difference in the two schools from a academic standpoint is negligable (especially if you consider the honors program at UA). So with that mind mind, it comes down to personal fit… and I was giving my opinion on which school I think is a nicer place to be.</p>
<p>Can you afford UT? If you are expecting to stay and settle in TX (where UT has a huge alumni network in state) I’d imagine that UT is the better choice. However, if price is an issue UA is a great option. Congratulations – all your hard work has given you excellent choices.</p>
<p>@HorkBork: First, and most important, CONGRATULATIONS on this excellent accomplishment. I fully agree with your initial post’s assessment, but would offer one suggestion.</p>
<p>Since UT is clearly the better institution, the real question becomes one of affordability. What if:
- You and your family ascertained how much you could afford to contribute for undergraduate work at UT, and then . . .
- You made an appointment with UT’s Financial Aid office, fundamentally articulating the following case: (1) you’ve been admitted; (2) you’re a Texan; (3) you live in the greater Austin area and you want to attend undergraduate school there; however (4) Arizona has offered you a full tuition scholarship; therefore (5) what, if anything, can they do to keep you where you should be – at UT.</p>
<p>Good luck (and Hook 'em Horns). </p>
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<p>It’s not “clearly” the better institution… it depends on what it is he/she is looking to get out of the school. </p>
<p>@fractalmstr, in some fields, UT-Austin definitely enjoys a better reputation than UA (granted, in some other fields, it’s the reverse, though those are fairly specialized) and for some industries, UT-Austin definitely presents better opportunities than UA. That’s why I asked what major/career the OP was considering.</p>
<p>Obviously, if the OP plans to stay in TX after graduation, the UT-Austin network would be more helpful as well.</p>
<p>Also, yes, I am assuming that the OP wants to get something related to career-advancement out of school. If the OP wants to get something related to partying out of school, then the answer may be different.</p>
<p>@fractalmstr: Please direct me to a single assessment that ranks U of A ahead of UT/Austin – not for a discipline, or a department, or a school, but rather for the aggregate university – which obviously is what is meant by “clearly the better institution.” </p>
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<p>My point is, the “aggregate university” assessment is somewhat pointless since it does not consider the individual needs of each student. </p>
<p>FWIW, U of A has one of the best optical science programs in the world. Would you say to someone interested in optics to go to UT Austin over U of A simply because of some stupid national ranking? Individual needs matter… and I think it’s wise for every student to analyze every school they are interested in, and weigh the pros and cons of each. </p>
<p>Rankings or “reputation” shouldn’t matter in this decision. Both are great academic institutions.</p>
<p>All I can say is you won’t have a single regret attending UA (especially for free) - come take a visit and you will fall in love! Just depends on your personal decisions, whether you think the opportunities at each school fit your needs, and if you want to leave TX or not. </p>
<p>Be glad you have two awesome schools to choose from and enjoy the process!</p>
<p>IMO, reputation in a field or overall may matter. As an example, Facebook only recruits from from certain colleges. Same with MBB consulting.</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan Good point that each company’s recruiting activity on your campus differs per university - but the counter argument is that as long as you are really good at programming, Facebook will hire a student no matter where they attend school. Therefore, reputation of your school is not a big deal as long as you put in the work you need to in order to succeed and be competitive in the job market.
However I definitely agree that if you know what you want to study as a high school student, choosing a university with the better reputation in that area is a good choice as long as it is SIGNIFICANTLY better - I wouldn’t choose UW over UHawaii if UW was ranked 10 in computer science and Hawaii was 40, because of all the other influential factors going into that decision on where to attend. </p>
<p>@fractalmstr: I wholeheartedly disagree with your thesis in post #11; were we dealing with students who were entering Master’s or Doctoral programs, I’d gladly concur with you. However, we are discussing – and attempting to assist – perspective freshman. So many students asking for advice on CC emphasize a “likely” major, and so many CC participants highlight an institutional strength – as you have done with UA’s optical science program – but we KNOW that many (most?) undergraduates change their majors at least once, often several times. This is precisely why I believe FAR greater importance should be placed on the university’s overall stature.</p>
<p>To illustrate, a freshman matriculates at Arizona with every intention of majoring in optical science (presuming that’s an undergraduate major). But, for whatever reason(s), sometime during his first semesters, he decides to alter his major to x, y, or z. Now he’s “stuck” at the #121 ranked national university (U S News’ latest assessment), perhaps in an equally mediocre major.</p>
<p>@an6rew: You’re certainly entitled to believe that a university with a U S News ranking below #120 is indicative of “a great academic institution;” others, however, would find that near-ridiculous. </p>
<p>If the OP wants to stay in Texas after graduation, it makes sense to go to UT. But outside of Texas, I find it very hard to believe someone from UT will be hired over someone from UA because UT is more prestigious.</p>
<p>When most people hear University of Texas, they don’t think, “That’s a prestigious academic institution.” They think, “That’s a football school.”</p>
<p>Actually, UT (Austin) enjoys enormous respect in both the academic and business worlds outside of Texas. If by “most people” you mean “random people in the Southwest”, sure. If you mean “business leaders and top graduate schools”, then, yes, people think “that’s a prestigious academic institution”. </p>
<p>OP: you’ll enjoy great benefits as a National Scholar at MANY universities. Look at the list on the " Financial aid" forum - the title is something like “link to favorite financial aid threads”. There’ll be a list of all the universities where you automatically get a full ride.
Do as TopTier said wrt UT: present things the way they are. See if they can match UA’s offer.
In addition to UA’s offer: ASU will offer the same benefits as UA, but Barrett (its honors college) is better, with more resources and overall greater success (Barrett is arguably the best Honors College in the country, especially wrt graduates’ achievements.) Contact them.</p>
<p>@toptier
Seems like a certain Duke fan is a little salty about basketball last year… You are correct, UA is NOT Duke - but it is a great school, a public ivy, where students who put in the effort will receive just as quality of an education as they would elsewhere in the country. </p>
<p>Also, I happen to know that US News’ “ranking” algorithm incorporates a weight that involves acceptance %, which in the case of UA, does not detract from the actual academics of the institution - seeing as they pride themselves on providing opportunity to in-state and underprivileged high school students (hence the very high acceptance rate). So, you are right, it is my opinion and choice to disregard these rankings as well as most others.
But just for fun, in this case, UA is #45 nationally: <a href=“http://cwur.org/2014/”>http://cwur.org/2014/</a>.</p>
<p>Just be happy for the fact that the OP has two awesome schools to choose from and really can’t go wrong with either!</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 To suggest ASU Barrett is the best honors college in the country is ridiculous, good yes, but the best, no. IT’S ASU, for goodness sake, they accept 89% of applicants and your degree will be from ASU, regardless of how long you stay in the honors college. Ask 5 students who were in Barrett why they left and 4 will tell you its not worth the extra cost, it’s ASU. To the OP UofA is a great school for undergrad, most schools will give NMSF full tuition, I agree go back to UT and ask them to match, but Arizona would be alot of fun and you’ll meet alot more diverse group of students and thus friends/alums that might well serve you well in the longer term than TX. Good luck</p>